


A Multiverse of Romanoff and Rogers

by remy71923



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Marvel Cinematic Universe Fusion, F/M, Multiverse, Post-Civil War (Marvel), Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Romance, Wedding Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2020-10-21 01:21:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20685152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/remy71923/pseuds/remy71923
Summary: "Because in all universes, they had always stuck with each other, in good times and in bad, sickness and in health, and as Stephen continues to look into the further future, they had stuck with each other even after death physically separated them in this realm."No matter which universe they end up in, they're for sure always ending up in each other's arms.





	A Multiverse of Romanoff and Rogers

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Marvel, nor any of the characters in here, and this is for sure extreme canon divergence. Nevertheless, hope you enjoy! Comments and kudos greatly appreciated!

They learned through their fellow avenger, Stephen Strange, that multiverses do indeed exist. It’s where the Sorcerer Supremes, like him, harness their energy from to cast spells, conjure shields, weapons and magic—from different dimensions of the multiverse. There can be different realities made in each universe, as things may happen in this universe but not necessarily in the other. Two people may end up meeting in this universe, but may end up not meeting each other in the next, however they still exist living different lives. He even knew that in another universe, he and his friends are fictional characters of a superhero comic series (where they found silly and absurd, by the way, especially when they found they were being written into movies).

But no matter what universe Stephen Strange sees and looks into, he is both puzzled and amazed at how Steve Rogers had always started out as a scrawny kid from Brooklyn, and would always find himself trapped in ice for seventy years after the war, and wake up in the twenty-first century and encounter the Avengers. He finds Steve chasing after the love that he had missed from Peggy Carter, who always co-exists in his life whichever universe he is in, from one woman to another (depending on the universe, really)—may it be with Sharon Carter, Peggy’s niece, Bernie Rosenthal, Iron Woman (and in Stephen’s amusement, her name is Natasha Stark), Betsy Ross, and many more. But what Stephen is amazed by the most is the fact that Steve always looks for love from Natasha Romanoff, who has always been a friend, confidante and partner to him.

Natasha Romanoff, on the other hand, has many very different stories. While in all universes she has been used and weaponized by the KGB to be the Black Widow, one of the world’s (or  _ worlds’ _ ) fiercest and most dangerous assassins, he still finds her defecting to S.H.I.E.L.D., or to the good side. What puzzles Stephen the most is that Natasha has been born in different time eras across different universes. In one universe, she is born during the war, and is weaponized by Hydra, and in one universe, she is born in the ‘80s and is kidnapped by the Red Room. Different versions of Natasha Romanoff would end up with Matt Murdock, James Barnes, Alexei Shostakov (the Red Guardian), Tony Stark (to Stephen’s great amusement considering their odd friendship in the universe he’s living in), Clint Barton, and many (much many) more. But what Stephen is amazed by the most is the fact that Natasha always looks for love from Steve Rogers, her friend, confidante and partner.

And in all universes, no matter what happens in either one of their stories, they would always end up with each other. And unlike many of Natasha’s failed marriages across the multiverse, their marriage would always stay strong and firm until the day they die.

And so Stephen decides to look into his two specific (and by far favorite) universes in which Steve and Natasha got married in: the one where they got married on the run after being two of the world’s worst criminals, and the one where they naturally fall in love and get married with a small, intimate wedding that is celebrated by America.

* * *

In the universe where they get married on the run, Stephen is not surprised that Natasha had switched to Steve’s side after the Avengers had broken up and fought in the airport in Berlin. They found each other when Natasha tracked down Steve with Bucky and Sam in Norway, after Steve left some clues for her to follow when he found out it was Natasha who left him the clues on breaking in the Raft. They had gone into missions trying to cover their tracks, until Bucky had told the trio he would take up T’challa’s offer to stay and rehabilitate in Wakanda instead.

The trio then still went on the run, and that’s when the feelings of the soldier and the spy started to unfold slowly but surely as each day passes. They gave in to each other one evening when Sam was out on a mission, and Sam was ecstatic to go home and find them tangled up together on the living room of their safehouse, though he wasn’t too pleased with the lack of clothing.

Until Sam decided he would stay in with Wanda and Vision in Scotland, the new couple stayed in Norway. But when Natasha had found out, miraculously, that she was pregnant with Steve’s child—a son, Stephen had mused—they took up T’challa’s offer and moved to Wakanda, where Steve expressed his intention to marry Natasha, showing her a ring that he’s been carrying around for months but never found the “perfect” timing to pop the question, until then. They decided to get married three days after Steve had proposed (Steve was insisting to get married the following day, but Natasha wanted to at least give time so their friends can fly over, and just so she can prepare herself presentable on their wedding day, because Steve deserved a better than wedding than this), and T’challa happily agreed to officiate his friends’ wedding.

They get married on a sunny Saturday afternoon in the garden behind the palace in Wakanda. The garden had an overlooking view of green fields and flower gardens, with a huge fountain standing by the entrance to the garden. Wanda, Vision, Sam and Clint flew in to witness the wedding. Queen Ramonda, Princess Shuri and Wanda assisted Natasha in her rushed bridal preparations, while T’challa, Bucky, Sam and Clint had aided Steve in his own preparations.

And so there they stand in front of the fountain, under an arc filled with white roses, with Natasha wearing a long white flowy dress that is high-collared and lacey, that Queen Ramonda had the women in Wakanda make. Since she technically wasn’t showing yet, it was safe that the dress hugged Natasha’s curves tightly around the waist area, and Natasha mused that the waist area of the dress was made of lace. Her blonde hair is braided by Wanda, and she added small white flowers that she clipped on Natasha’s hair. She is wearing light makeup, with minimal eyeshadow and nude lip gloss that Shuri had offered to put on her. She is given a hand-tied Fynbos bouquet.

“You look beautiful, Natasha.” Wanda had told her, a big smile on her face. Natasha chuckled softly and rested a hand on the girl’s arm.

“Thank you for flying in even if it was halfway across the world.” she said, and Wanda giggled.

“Wouldn’t miss such a happy event for the world.”

Steve, on the other hand, is wearing a dark blue long-sleeved Dashiki top and pants that Queen Ramonda had also requested the women of Wakanda to hand-weave, with matching black leather shoes. His long brown hair is combed neatly, and he shaved his beard slightly.

Clint had given him a last-minute shovel talk when they were alone, and waiting for the ceremony to start. They were already in the garden, overlooking the green fields and beautiful flower gardens. Clint was wearing a formal button-down shirt and slacks, as he was tasked to walk Natasha down the aisle.

“I love her like family, Steve,” Clint had told her. “Now I know that you’ll never hurt her, you won’t do it on purpose. But I know men, I know  _ us _ . If you do something as bad as hurt her or the kid even just a bit, I don’t care if you’re Captain America or not, I will castrate you, and I’m serious.”

Steve had looked at Clint, and with a small smile on his face, he nodded. “My only intention is to protect my family, Clint, and that includes our kid and Natasha.” he had said. While Clint is not satisfied (nor will he ever be) with Steve’s answer, he knew he only spoke of the truth, and he knew he would stay true to what he said. And for that, he is grateful, and ready to walk Natasha down the aisle.

When the time came that the ceremony was about to start, Bucky had walked over the two and told Clint that he was needed in the bridal quarters. With one last nod, he left the two best friends and off to Natasha.

“You ready, Steve?” Bucky had asked him, a smile on his face. Steve smiled and nodded, and the two proceeded to wait at the end of the aisle, where T’challa is positioned.

The crowd is small, considering they only knew a few in Wakanda, and had fewer friends after the Accords. Still, Steve liked the intimacy of it all, of how everyone that was present in the place were people who loved them and would support them in their new journey together. And so when the music started, and Natasha and Clint appeared, Steve tried in vain not to let the tears of overwhelming love and feelings flow, that after everything that they have been through together, all the dancing around, multiple separations and doubts, there they were, about to start their new life as husband and wife. His tears, however, fell when he saw Natasha smile up at him under her thick lashes as she walks slowly with Clint, and he couldn’t in his lifetime believe that he was finally marrying the fiercest, most loyal, most beautiful woman alive, who was also carrying his child. He loves her, and he knows she loves him.

Steve walks over to them once they are near, and Clint turns to Natasha and gives her a peck on the cheek and a tight embrace. He murmurs how sorry he was that Laura and the kids aren’t here, and that he loves her. Natasha laughs softly and pulls away, and teases Clint when she sees his eyes glistening with tears. Clint gives Steve a nod, and he nods back, just as he offers his arm to Natasha and she takes it with a beautiful wide smile. Together, they walk under the arc, both of them looking at their friends in the ceremony, all with beautiful and wide smiles on their faces.

“You look beautiful.” Steve tells her, and she does. She is absolutely glowing, and he’s not entirely sure if that was mainly because of the pregnancy glow, but he was sure that she looked like a goddess at that moment. Natasha giggles softly.

“You don’t look so bad yourself, soldier.” she replies, winking, and Steve grins.

T’challa smiles at both of them, and they tell Steve and Natasha to face each other, and so they did. Natasha gives Wanda her bouquet, and Steve takes both her hands in his. “Friends, we are gathered here today to celebrate the love between Natasha Romanoff and Steve Rogers, by joining them in marriage,” T’challa starts. “Today is about love, a love that is genuine, honest, open, compassionate and kind, passionate and blind. Love that doesn’t know space or time, nor that which looks through jealous eyes.”

He looks at both Steve and Natasha as he continues, “Every one of us present here will help solidify this bond of these two individuals who will be joined as husband and wife. This new journey will be at times richly rewarding and extremely difficult, but, most importantly, it will be a journey you two will take together. Today, you are promising, in front of all these people you love, that you want to be with each other and only each other for the rest of your lives, and that you will do everything in your power to honor the promises you are making here today. So, let your marriage be a time of waking each morning and falling in love with each other all over again.”

“Steve and Natasha, you have known each other for years, through the first glance of acquaintance to this moment of commitment. At some moment, you decided to marry. From that moment of yes to this moment of yes, indeed, you have been making promises and agreements in an informal way. The symbolic vows that you are about to make are a way of saying to one another. Now you shall say a few words that take you across the threshold of life, and things will never quite be the same between you,” T’challa looks at Steve. “Steve, Captain Rogers, would you like to start?”

Steve looks back at Natasha then smiles. “70 years. That’s how long I was sleeping when I was in the ice. Since then, I told myself that I’d stop counting time upwards, and start counting downwards, down to the time when I would probably meet my ultimate demise, where I told myself I could finally reunite with my mother, with my lost date...with my best friend,” He turns a bit to look at Bucky who smirks at him. “So I lived life just dragging one day to the next, trying to cope and live as much as I can with the modern world, and trying to shake myself off the guilt of not giving Peggy one last dance before I left.

“But in 2012, I had the urge to start counting upwards once again. I met the Avengers, that of which became our small dysfunctional family,” Natasha smiles sadly at him, her eyes glistening with tears. “I started counting upwards because I knew the world needed me, needed  _ us _ to save it. I started living off my days fighting, taking in one mission, then another, and that’s how I counted time. That’s how I started counting my days upwards.

“When Fury paired us up for missions, I started counting my days based on how many times you would tell a joke about my age,” Natasha and the crowd laugh, and he smiles. “Or how many times you would disobey my orders, deflect from plans, or how many times I thought I could trust you. Then I started counting backwards once again, because Nat, as beautiful and capable you were, and still are, you were the death of me.” Natasha winks and grins at him mischievously.

“But in 2014, in the fall of SHIELD, I was conflicted. I thought to myself, ‘Do I start counting backwards?’, as the number of people I trusted in SHIELD decreased when they turned out to be Hydra. But I also thought about how we managed to survive together through it all, you, me and Sam. And I also thought to myself, ‘Do I continue to count upwards?’, count the number of times we’d get out of a fight alive, the number of times I would see you smile, and the increasing amount of trust I started to put towards you, as you put your trust towards me,” Steve smiles sadly. “And when you left in the cemetery, I continued to count upwards, hopeful that I would still see you, and I did, when you found us after I left you a phone call in your burner phone.”

Steve sighs. “In 2015, when I felt that you were drifting away to another man’s arms, I started counting backwards once again,” he says. “I counted the days I had left with you before you became...his. I counted the days I had left to cherish your smile, your jokes, the small and comfortable touches we have. And when Ultron had captured you, I counted the hours that we had left to save you. Before Sokovia fell, and it was just the two of us left, I thought the time was up, and that’s when I felt that I would rather spend  _ that _ last moment with you, than start counting time upwards without you. Yes, Nat, that was the time I started to admit to myself that I was falling in love with you.

“And last year, when the Accords came, I thought...I thought I’d lost you, just as I started to lose the small dysfunctional family I’ve always had. When we started fighting in the airport, and when you allowed us to leave, I thought it was over. But when you appeared at our doorstep two months after, marking yourself a criminal when you shouldn’t be, I felt a sense of hope.” Steve smiles. “I thought I’d start counting backwards once again, counting the number of days left before we get caught and detained, but I found myself counting upwards when you came in. I started counting time upwards every time we would successfully finish a mission, or run away without getting caught. I started counting upwards once again when I counted the number of times you would allow me to hug you, or touch you, or you would allow yourself to fall asleep in my arms during cold nights.

“And when I admitted to falling in love with you, I started counting time based on you. I started counting time based on how many times you would smile, or how many times you would land a fierce yet graceful kick at an enemy. I started counting time based on how many hours we spend together in missions, or how long our dinners are, or how long we spend in each other’s presence just talking. But I came to realize that it was hard to count time based on you, because every time I find myself with you, time stops. And every time I would try to start counting again, whether backwards or upwards, I would fail, because counting just makes things end, and I never wanted us to end.” Natasha’s eyes slowly start filling with tears as she smiles, and Steve just squeezes her hands in his.

“I told myself I would ask you to spend the rest of your life with me when the timing is perfect, because believe it or not, Natasha,  _ you _ deserve perfection. But if there’s one thing I thought the years have taught me, it’s that no timing is ever perfect. Here we are, two of the world’s most wanted criminals getting married halfway across the world, expecting a child, what can be crazier than that?” Natasha laughs softly, a tear escaping her eye, and Steve smiles. “But I am a firm believer that time becomes perfect when you’re with someone you love. The 70 years I’ve spent in the ice was perfect, if only it will lead me to you. The 2 years I’ve spent moping about my feelings was perfect, if only it will lead us to this moment. This moment right here is perfect, because I know I’m about to spend the rest of my life with you.

“I can’t promise the riches, a big house with a white picket fence in the suburbs,” Steve says softly. “But I can promise love, and a home where you will be safe, that will be filled with love, for you and for our kids. I promise to protect you, even if I know that you’re more than capable to protect yourself. I promise to love you, with every fiber of my being, and to let you know that through every way I can everyday. I promise to hold you in nightmares, and soothe your pain when you get hurt. I promise to be a good husband and a father, and to continue to be a good partner and best friend. I love you, Natasha, and I promise to give you the best life you deserve.”

The audience claps, and Natasha grins, pulling one hand away to wipe away the tears that fell. Steve chuckles when he sees Wanda and Shuri discreetly wiping their tears away, and Sam and Clint giving him huge grins.

“Natasha?” T’challa prompts.

“How do you even top that?” Natasha asks, shaking her head. She sighs and looks at T’challa who nods at her encouragingly.

“I was made a weapon,” Natasha starts, smiling at Steve who is about to say something but Natasha squeezes his hand reassuringly. “That was the earliest memory I’ve ever had in my life. I don’t remember, nor recall having a family, having a mother, or father, or sister, or brother. I don’t remember having a home, a safe place. I remembered the Red Room, where I wasn’t treated to be human, nor was I treated with love. I was taught that love was for children, love meant weakness, and it showed through the teachings imbibed in me, and manifested through the missions they gave me.”

Natasha swallows. “They call me the Black Widow, named after the spider that kills after it seduces. I used beauty and the love given to me as a weapon to kill. I had myself thrown around from the worst possible men for them to touch me, so in turn they would give their life, or I would take it away from them. I was made a weapon, and was seen as a weapon, and never human.

“Then I got into SHIELD’s radar, where they sent Clint in Russia to find me and kill me,” Natasha says, looking at Clint who’s smiling at her. “I remember the fight clearly. We were on the rooftop of one of the buildings, and he already had the upper hand because I just finished off a mission when Hawkeye tracked me down. I told him to kill me, to end me, because if I get caught, it would just be the same as killing me.” Natasha smiles, tears filling her eyes slowly. “I didn’t know what came into his mind when, instead of killing me by shooting me with his arrow, he shot me a sedative. I didn’t know what came into his mind when he thought he could trust me that when I woke up in the quinjet, I wouldn’t kill him. I asked him about it years after, when Natalia became Natasha, and he just told me that he saw me. He  _ saw _ me. And that was the first time I’ve ever experienced to be human.

“But I never realized that being human meant atoning for the wrong things I’ve done, and I’ve done plenty, I’ve killed plenty. I’ve always said that I needed to wipe out the red in my ledger, but I don’t think it can be wiped out in my lifetime. I’ve always known I was gonna live a short life, whether good or bad, someone will always be out there to kill me, and that will be my atonement. And I didn’t mind if I went early. So while I was living, I focused on wiping the red off my ledger, and trying to be a good person as I can be to the people I come across. I have learned, eventually, to love. Like Steve said, I learned how to love the small dysfunctional family, the only family I’ve ever had in my life when the Avengers Initiative happened in 2012.”

Natasha smiles back at Steve. “But now I realize that everything I understand, I understand only because I love. With them, I became human, as I loved them, and they loved me, in whatever ways they can show. I never knew love from a page off the book, or from a writing on the wall, or a scene in a movie. I learned it from shawarma diners after kicking some Chitauri ass off in New York. I learned it from strangers who shelter you when everything you thought you knew of the world is crumbling down.” Sam smiles. “I learned it from simple jokes as lifting Mjolnir during parties, and of men failing to feel worthy just because of a hammer,” Steve laughs softly at that. “I learned it from big green monsters who break your heart, and from a young woman who enjoys braiding my hair in downtime.” Wanda grins at that. “I learned it from people who let go of the past, and allow them to move forward with your life, looking past the mistakes you brought upon them.” T’challa smiles and nods.

“But most of all, I learned it from a star-spangled shield that protects me from Chitauri armor, bomb attacks, and metal robots,” Natasha’s eyes start watering once again. “I learned it from the man who wields the shield, who still sees past my mistakes, refuses to see me as a weapon and loves me despite everything I’ve ever done. I learned it from the man who still continues to teach me how to be good by showing it to me. I learned it from the man who trusted me with his life and with his heart. I learned love from the man who had given me the greatest gift and miracle I can ever think of. I learned about love, real, intense, overwhelming and overflowing love from Steve Rogers, who has held my heart ever since and still continues to hold it until now.”

Natasha pauses, clearing her throat a little as she sees Steve just smiling, tears welling up in his eyes as he listens. “Once upon a time, I thought I wasn’t made to love, much less be capable of doing so. I thought the only purpose I’ve ever had in my life was to wipe the red off my ledger, and that was it. But when you started smiling more, and laughing more whenever we’re together, I had a swell of hope that maybe there was something more to life than just that. And when you finally told me that you loved me all those nights ago, I knew right away that maybe I was made to love you, and perhaps I was worthy of receiving love. Because how is it, that a man so pure, so kind-hearted and so selfless can love a weapon if he didn’t deem it worthy? And so I figured, that maybe I wasn’t just a weapon after all.” Natasha sighs, and smiles. “I’m a lover, a mother, and a wife. I’m a partner, and a best friend. And I learned all of that through love.

“I can’t promise an easy life, Steve,” Natasha says softly. “Nor can I promise a shot of normality with a big house, and me as a housewife. But I do promise to hold you in my arms every day and night, to take care of you and our child, to give you everything you will ever need. I promise to do whatever it takes to let you know how much I love you, and to tell you that every day, and show you in every way I can. I promise to be a good wife, and a good mother, and to give you a home that you deserve.” She smiles. “Я люблю тебя, дорогая. I love you, my sweetheart.” The crowd claps and Steve smiles, not even bothering to wipe the tears that have fallen from his eyes.

And they proceed with the exchanging of rings. Steve admired how the rings are simple gold bands, but both rings have their names’ engraved on each other’s rings. With that simple ritual, they declared their devotion and commitment to each other by placing the rings to each other’s left ring finger. Steve watched as Natasha just smiles in awe, looking at the two rings on her finger; the engagement ring Steve had bought and now, their wedding ring--both symbols of his love for her, and her love for him.

“And I may now pronounce you, husband and wife. Captain, you may now kiss your bride.” Steve grins as he wraps his arms around Natasha’s waist and pulls her in for a deep but soft kiss, and Natasha kisses back, smiling as they hear the crowd cheer, and as she can feel flower petals being showered over them. The two pull away and open their eyes and laugh when they saw it was T’challa himself throwing them the flower petals.

And so, Stephen Strange muses, while everything else was wrong with the world, for the two of them in this universe, all was perfect and all was fine. They need not have the back of the global security body, they had each other, and a handful of people who love them, and that was all that mattered.

* * *

In the universe where no sort of Accords had happened, and no civil war occurred, still Steve and Natasha had gotten married. But Stephen had noticed that this wedding was a much bigger one than the other universe wherein they were on the run, and in Wakanda.  _ No _ . While this one isn’t  _ too _ big, and while it was still intimate in a sense that more people—the complete Avengers, including him, and many more of their friends—were there. They get married in a church, and Stephen had figured Natasha thought this was what Steve deserved, thus agreeing to it all.

But he would like to muse how Natasha’s dress had been more or less the same as her alternate’s wedding in the multiverse, but her hair here was her natural red, and was much longer, and was tied to a crown braid. The women—Pepper, Wanda, Maria, Laura and Hope were all dolled and dressed as bridesmaids, and to Stephen’s utter surprise, Yelena Belova was there as her maid-of-honor. Stephen figured that this universe was one of the few of the multiverses where the two had reconciled and became sisters to each other.

Steve, however, was not wearing a dark blue Dashiki attire, but rather a black velvet tuxedo that Tony Stark had so kindly gifted him with. He didn’t grow a beard, to which Stephen was disappointed with, and his hair was in his natural blonde color. The men—Clint, Tony, Rhodey, Stephen himself, Bruce and Thor were all tux-ed up and dressed to be his groomsmen, and Bucky was his best man. He looked good, and Stephen figured that in this universe, Bucky Barnes was treated kindly post-Winter Soldier.

Nick Fury had officiated the wedding, and Stephen wouldn’t expect less than the man who had brought the two together and made them fall in love with each other. “Friends, family, we are all gathered here today to celebrate the love between Natasha and Steve, two of the most unlikely people to fall in love with each other at first glance, yet everyone still managed to see it coming.” Ah yes, this one is more loose than when T’challa officiated it, but he admitted to liking how T’challa did the introduction more than Fury’s. Still, it was sweet to listen.

“They are taking the first step of their new beginning; their new life together. The ability and desire for one human being to love another is perhaps the most precious and fulfilling gift that has been entrusted to us. It is an all-consuming task, indeed a lifelong endeavor. Loving someone is a reason to stretch beyond our limits, to become more for the sake of the other,” he continues. “Much less so when the other is Romanoff and Rogers right here.” Everyone laughs, and the laugh is roaring and echoing, and only then did Stephen see the population difference between the two weddings. “Loving someone is to look into the soul of your beloved and accept what you see. Loving is the ultimate commitment which challenges humans to become all that we are meant to be. As they join in marriage today, Nat and Steve are announcing to the world that they are welcoming that challenge.”

And he even muses how the vows are also the same, only in this universe, Natasha wasn’t expecting just yet, but Stephen knew they would also have a son, and his name would be the same as their son in the other multiverses, much like the one in Wakanda. They had promised to each other mostly love, a safe home, and each other at the end of each day, and despite Stephen hearing these exchanged vows more than a million times, it still warms his heart and cracks a smile out of him.

They have a much grander dinner reception here than in Wakanda, which says a lot considering that the dinner in Wakanda was a feast prepared by the royal family, so Stephen could only imagine how  _ big _ the reception is in this one. It’s in a huge convention hall, and while the attendance was only more or less only around seventy or so, Pepper had reasoned that this was the most secure they could ever have without the paps following them. Pepper had done the decorations beautifully, from the color palette to the four-tier chocolate wedding cake, she had done a pretty chipper job. She had also secured the program, being very meticulous about following the program, from the entrance of the newly-weds down to their first dance, everything was planned perfectly.

Stephen even loved the fact that in both weddings, the newly-weds had danced to the same song: Rascal Flatts’ Bless the Broken Road—a fitting song to describe the romance between the two most unlikely people who would fall in love, yet would still make sense once they did. Steve would sing along the song softly to Natasha’s ear, and she would laugh and try to hide the tears against his shoulder. Stephen felt bad for comparing, but he figured it wasn’t so bad to compare, since it’s still  _ their _ wedding he’s talking about, but he liked the intimacy of the Wakanda wedding better. This affair was big, noisy, and while it was good, the ceremony in Wakanda matched their love for each other: simple, quiet yet very passionate.

Steve stands beside him as they both watch Natasha laugh and dance with Bucky along a fast song. Stephen looks at Steve who has a fond smile on his face, just watching his wife twirl and dance on the floor along with his best friend who is now completely healed and almost perfect. Stephen wondered if this universe was the universe where Natasha and James had gotten together when she was still in the Red Room, but he figured it wouldn’t matter now.

“Congratulations, Steve.” Stephen greets, and Steve turns to him with a smile.

“Thanks, Stephen,” he says. “And thanks for coming too. Thought you’d be too busy...saving other universes or something.” Stephen chuckles and shakes his head.

“That’s just Carol’s thing, not mine,” he quips and it was Steve’s turn to chuckle. “But I’m happy for you, you and Natasha. Can’t say I’m surprised, though.”

“Yeah, yeah, with you and your ability to see the future or whatever.” Steve says, and Stephen shakes his head with a smile.

“Not just that, you know,” he decides to tell Steve. “I’ve watched you get married hundreds of times in different multiverses.”

Steve blinks his eyes. “What do you mean?” he asks.

“In whatever universe I look into, Cap, you guys manage to always end up together,” Stephen explains. “And whatever happens, for whatever circumstances, you still manage to find each other and end up marrying.”

Steve is silent, and is just looking at him, and Stephen wonders if he did the right thing, telling Steve the truth about the two of them. Steve then looks down at his ring finger, where his gold wedding band is, then a smile slowly forms on his mouth.

“Tell me, Doctor,” Steve says, looking back at his eyes. “Were we happy in all the universes you found us together?”

Stephen laughs heartily. “That depends on you, Captain. Will you be happy together in this universe?”

Steve seems to think about this as he looks back at the dance floor, where Natasha, just in time, turns to him and flashes him a beautiful wide smile before she turns and dances with Wanda and Maria. Stephen smiles, sensing Steve’s answer in the way he smiles back at his wife, and the way his eyes twinkle as he watches her, even without him saying it verbally.

The love that they share—it puzzles him at how the dynamics of it all are not so much different in the multiverses, yet the constancy and persistence of their partnership continues to amaze the magician, even inspires him. Because in all universes, they had always stuck with each other, in good times and in bad, sickness and in health, and as Stephen continues to look into the further future, they had stuck with each other even after death physically separated them in this realm.


End file.
